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Retail sales forecast to grow 8.5% in 2003
China’s retail sales are forecast to grow 8.5 percent this year, based on an 8-percent on-year increase in the first half and an expected 9-percent rise in the second half, according to an analysis from the China General Chamber of Commerce. Quoting the chamber of commerce’s report, Tuesday’s Zhonghua Gongshang Shibao (China Business Times) said retail sales by the restaurant industry, one of the worst-hit by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), would jump 13 percent from a year earlier in the second half, compared with a mere 6.2 percent in the first six months. Other sectors expected to post marked sales growth will include construction and interior-decoration materials, as people resume spending on housing; digital cameras, as their prices fall and the tourism industry recovers; and automobiles and mobile phones, as their demand remain strong, the report said. Meantime, the sales growth of detergents, disinfectants and exercise equipment are expected to be higher than before the SARS outbreak but slightly lower than in May, when the outbreak peaked; and that of medicines will return to normal. Sales by China’s major retailers slid 3.7 percent on-year in May, but the total of first five months went up 12.8 percent. It is estimated that the wholesale, retail and trade sector lost 2.78 billion yuan (US$335.75 million) while the restaurant sector lost 18.9 billion yuan (US$2.28 billion) from the SARS epidemic in the two months of April and May. For more information on China's retailing sector, see the retailing section on ChinaOnline's eBookstore. |
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China Online -- 15 July 2003